Poverty
Commentary
To Save Medicaid, Hold States Accountable
Taxpayers spent a record $554 billion for Medicaid last year — a 12% rise from 2014 and much higher than forecast. President Obama deserves the credit — and blame — for that rapid increase. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicts that the program will cost $890 billion ...
Blackouts
Stop squandering California’s energy resources
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. just announced plans to prematurely shutter California’s sole nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. The news came hours after energy officials issued the year’s first “flex alert” — a warning that certain areas should conserve energy to avoid a blackout. That’s right — at a time ...
California
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
Commentary
Latest Obamacare Casualty? The Constitution
A federal judge recently ruled that the Obama administration violated the Constitution by spending $7 billion on subsidies for insurance companies without Congress’s permission. Worse still, the administration knew all along that it was flouting the law. If the ruling is upheld, Americans will face higher premiums and fewer choices ...
Commentary
For GOP Health Reformers, No Sleep Til Cleveland
The Republican National Convention is less than three months away. The party may not have settled on a presidential nominee by then but if the GOP’s top elected official, Speaker Paul Ryan, has his way, Republicans will arrive in Cleveland with a brand-new plan for replacing Obamacare. The time is ...
Commentary
President Obama Double Downs On Medicaid’s Failures
President Barack Obama is calling on taxpayers to shell out more money for his health reform law’s disastrous Medicaid expansion. The president recently asked Congress to approve $106 billion in new Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. Nevermind that the Congressional Budget Office just concluded that, as is, Medicaid ...
Commentary
The Right Way to Replace Obamacare’s Subsidy
On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, nine candidates for the Republican presidential nomination remain. All are staunch critics of Obamacare. But they differ on what they’d put in its place. One point of tension? How to replace Obamacare’s overly complicated subsidy system. The GOP roughly falls into two ...
Commentary
Obamacare Enrollment Has Tapped Out
Obamacare’s third open enrollment period ends in a few days. The White House insists that it’s been an unequivocal success. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, the exchanges have seen “unprecedented demand” for coverage and “steady progress signing up new customers.” Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers ...
Commentary
Here’s how to create a better health policy than Obamacare
One in 2 Americans now opposes Obamacare. It’s not hard to see why. Premiums will increase this year by an average of 7.5 percent for the law’s midlevel “silver” plans. More than half of Obamacare’s nonprofit insurance co-ops have failed, forcing 740,000 people to find new, often more expensive insurance. ...
Commentary
The Way Out Of Obamacare
Republicans just took an unprecedented step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare. Last week, the GOP-led Congress passed a bill that would gut President Obama’s deeply unpopular health law. This effort was different than Republicans’ previous 61 attempts to repeal the law — it’s the first one to reach the president’s ...
To Save Medicaid, Hold States Accountable
Taxpayers spent a record $554 billion for Medicaid last year — a 12% rise from 2014 and much higher than forecast. President Obama deserves the credit — and blame — for that rapid increase. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicts that the program will cost $890 billion ...
Stop squandering California’s energy resources
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. just announced plans to prematurely shutter California’s sole nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. The news came hours after energy officials issued the year’s first “flex alert” — a warning that certain areas should conserve energy to avoid a blackout. That’s right — at a time ...
Where’s the Passion for CEQA Reform?
The roots of California’s environmental regulations can be traced back to 1884. That’s the year a federal judge ordered miners to stop using water cannons to batter the Sierra hillsides to separate gold from the soil and rock, but also left behind a broken and ugly landscape. The process, called ...
Latest Obamacare Casualty? The Constitution
A federal judge recently ruled that the Obama administration violated the Constitution by spending $7 billion on subsidies for insurance companies without Congress’s permission. Worse still, the administration knew all along that it was flouting the law. If the ruling is upheld, Americans will face higher premiums and fewer choices ...
For GOP Health Reformers, No Sleep Til Cleveland
The Republican National Convention is less than three months away. The party may not have settled on a presidential nominee by then but if the GOP’s top elected official, Speaker Paul Ryan, has his way, Republicans will arrive in Cleveland with a brand-new plan for replacing Obamacare. The time is ...
President Obama Double Downs On Medicaid’s Failures
President Barack Obama is calling on taxpayers to shell out more money for his health reform law’s disastrous Medicaid expansion. The president recently asked Congress to approve $106 billion in new Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. Nevermind that the Congressional Budget Office just concluded that, as is, Medicaid ...
The Right Way to Replace Obamacare’s Subsidy
On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, nine candidates for the Republican presidential nomination remain. All are staunch critics of Obamacare. But they differ on what they’d put in its place. One point of tension? How to replace Obamacare’s overly complicated subsidy system. The GOP roughly falls into two ...
Obamacare Enrollment Has Tapped Out
Obamacare’s third open enrollment period ends in a few days. The White House insists that it’s been an unequivocal success. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, the exchanges have seen “unprecedented demand” for coverage and “steady progress signing up new customers.” Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers ...
Here’s how to create a better health policy than Obamacare
One in 2 Americans now opposes Obamacare. It’s not hard to see why. Premiums will increase this year by an average of 7.5 percent for the law’s midlevel “silver” plans. More than half of Obamacare’s nonprofit insurance co-ops have failed, forcing 740,000 people to find new, often more expensive insurance. ...
The Way Out Of Obamacare
Republicans just took an unprecedented step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare. Last week, the GOP-led Congress passed a bill that would gut President Obama’s deeply unpopular health law. This effort was different than Republicans’ previous 61 attempts to repeal the law — it’s the first one to reach the president’s ...
